Star Fox: Use Of Weapons
by AKissAndAGunshot
Summary: Fox runs away from it all, off into the dark, cold void. Instead of death, however, a GCU of the mysterious 'Culture' finds him, and he is offered another chance, far away from his old life...
1. Chapter 1

storyteller: A Star Fox/Culture series crossover. Weird, huh? Unfortunately, there is no Culture series category... so it goes in with the rest of star fox.

Not many explanations will be given. Read the Culture series for information. I recommend 'Use Of Weapons' or 'The Player Of Games'.

Also, updates will be slow if they ever happen. Writing about the Culture is hard.

X-X-X

Star Fox: Use Of Weapons

Ch1: dead in the water & permanent house guest

X-X-X

1534 hours, somewhere in the void

Warning: fuel at 5%

Warning: oxygen at 10%

Life support CRITICAL

Return to a station IMMEDIATELY

Fox slammed his hand down onto a button.

The warning voice clicked off. He sighed, and ran his hand through his hair. He knew he would die out here, light-years away from the glow and life of the Lylat system.

He had no idea where he was. The jump had been made without calibration or calculation. He could see three different stars that MIGHT be the Lylat system, but it was unlikely, and in any case they were mere faint specks in the distance.

He switched off the engines, and lay back into his chair, his mind travelling back to that day... remembering the trail of exhaust her arwing had left as it sailed off into space.

He sighed again. He never though it would drive him to suicide. Although it hadn't been on his mind when he made the jump - that had just been an impulse to run - the thought of dying here, killed by the cold and anoxia, drifting around the lost voids of the galaxy in this powerless metal coffin, seemed almost attractive.

Warning: battery power at 0%. Heaters offline.

Fox unplugged the warning circuit.

X-X-X

About an hour later, Fox awoke.

He could see his breath in the still air. Though the voice no longer warned him of failing systems, the "Emergency Oxygen" light was blinking. He had run out of time. Emergency reserves only lasted the ten minutes that it would take to land in a docking bay.

He sighed one more time. It sounded like a death rattle. "Krystal, if you can hear me, I never meant it this way..." his voice trailed off. Then he sat up in shock.

A small blue sphere, the size of an egg, had materialized with a POP in the cockpit. It centred itself in Fox's view. "What... what the hell?" Fox stammered.

"What you see is an avatar of myself, the General Contact Unit 'Disproved By Experiment'. I notice your ship is in critical condition. I would like to bring your ship into my port side bay; do you have an objection?" The voice was stilted, obviously coming through a translator.

"N- no," said Fox, feeling a little stunned.

"Thank you." His arwing began to vibrate as it was towed backwards. "May I ask you your name?"

"Fox McCloud," said Fox absently. He wondered if he was dreaming.

As his arwing swung around, Fox gasped. Disproved By Experiment was the largest ship Fox had ever seen. He had thought that the Great Fox was a large ship, but this one was colossal. It was easily a hundred kilometres long. The arwing was being towed by some unknown force into a huge docking bay on the side.

The 'avatar' vanished with another pop.

X-X-X

Fox slowly climbed out of his arwing. The docking bay was massive. White metal panels covered almost every surface.

"Umm... hello?"

A humanoid form, appearing like it was made of liquid metal, drifted though the doors at the back of the bay.

"Hello, Fox McCloud. Welcome to the 'Disproved By Experiment'. I am a GCU, first class. I am returning to culture space after a Special Circumstances mission." The ship paused. "I would like to communicate with your craft, if I may."

"What do you mean, communicate with it?" Fox looked blank.

A moment of silence ensued. "Oh my!" Exclaimed the silver figure. "I had no idea that you were not of an involved race. Your people are deceptively advanced for your level of contact." The creature seemed a little unsure of what to do next. "I was not aware that your ship lacked a Mind."

Fox felt like he was going insane. "Who the hell are you? What's going on? Who are you with? What are you doing out here in the void?" He burst out.

"Ahh..." the silver figure seemed tentative. "The figure you see is a mere representation; I AM the ship, or at least its Mind. "As for explanations, I am a representative of the Culture, a powerful interstellar civilization. Specifically, I report to Contact, which is more or less our ministry of foreign affairs. The mission I was on was given by Special Circumstances, a branch of Contact which handles... well... special circumstances. A full explanation would fill several large books, so that will have to wait until I dock at Ma'saq Orbital.

"Now, I've told you my story, what about you? How did you come to be floating in a cold, dying ship light-years from your home planet?"

"I... I'd rather not talk about it," said Fox. The ship hesitated for a long while. Then it said, "would... would you object if I read the information from your mind, then?" It asked, as if it had mentioned something unthinkable.

"Go ahead," said Fox, apathetically. The ship seemed shocked at his uncaring attitude, but said nothing.

Fox heard a hum resonate throughout the ship. A minute later, the ship spoke.

"You have had an interesting life, Fox McCloud," it said. "You are also a very... unique... fighter. I wonder..." the voice trailed off.

"You wonder what?" Said Fox suspiciously.

"It seems to me that you could be... useful to Contact. You might make an excellent Special Circumstances agent. Trust me when I say that such posts aren't given out lightly."

"What makes me so useful, then?" Fox was feeling bitter.

"Well, you disappeared without a trace from your homeworld, you aren't being searched for, and you have no life to return to. From the point of view of the involved civilizations, you don't exist. That is a useful trait in an SC agent. And no-one need tell you that you are one hell of a solo operative, in stealth missions or otherwise. Special Circumstances missions will be substantially different from what you are used to, but I think you will manage.

"What I am offering you is a new life, Fox. You will be a citizen of the Culture. We are a post-scarcity society, Fox... we live quite well. In theory our technology allows someone to live forever, but most Culture citizens let themselves die after four hundred years or so. Now, most Culture citizens don't go on missions for SC, but I somehow doubt that you would be happy living a purely hedonistic life."

Fox though about it for a minute. "Would I get to pilot my own ships? Or would I have some computer mind doing all the work for me?"

"Special Circumstances only comes into play when something must be done that can't be done by a Mind. So yes."

An image of Krystal flashed across his mind. He instantly suppressed it; he knew he would never see her again even if he returned to Lylat.

"I'm in."

"Excellent. We will be arriving at Ma'saq orbital in four days. Unfortunately, due to the nature of my mission, there are no biological sentients on board, but feel free to peruse the computers for information about your new people."

X-X-X

Kursed washed the blood from her hands. When she was done, she sat down heavily on her bed. She stared at the news post, still scrolling across her computer screen. It read "STAR FOX CAPTAIN MYSTERIOUSLY DISAPPEARS!"

Tears rolled down her cheeks. She was so hopeful that they would cross paths one day and she would be able to tell him how she felt, so she could stop living this life of murder and deceit.

But now, it seemed, he was gone forever.

X-X-X

/storyteller: Well, looks like Fox has gotten into the 'moral interference' business.

Yes, I changed the title. I am planning to make the plot similar to Banks' original Use Of Weapons, hopefully without the gut-wrenching ending and horrifically cruel and sad back story; hence the title change.

Edit2: What the hell, FF? REMOVING THE PARAGRAPH SPACING when I upload? So much for .odt format being the biz. It's back to .txt for me. 


	2. Chapter 2

/storyteller: back by popular demand (aka 1 review... yes, Shadow Soul Cry, I'm lookin' at you), the next installment of SF: use of weapons.

The chapter title is a reference to 'Look To Windward' by Iain M. Banks. Read it for more information about both Ma'saq orbital and 'Lasting Damage'.

(Guessed who my favorite author is yet?)

X-X-X

Star Fox: Use Of Weapons

Ch2: Lasting Damage

GCU 'Disproved By Experiment' slid smoothly into the docking ring.

Fox, who had been waiting at one of the airlocks, stepped out into the sunlight. Aside from the gigantic arch in the sky, you wouldn't have known that this was an orbital. The silver avatar of the 'Disproved By Experiment' drifted out with him.

A small silver sphere appeared. "Welcome to Ma'saq orbital, my friend," it said, addressing the silver humanoid that represented the ship. "I hope your mission was successful."

"Thank you, Hub, it was. I have also picked up a stray, as you might have noticed," said the ship. "I believe he... ah... might be useful to Contact. I think he might, just might, be the next Cheradenine Zakalwe."

The red orb flickered white for a minute; Fox got the impression that it was displaying its 'surprised' face. "Are you sure? What did he say that gave you that impression?"

"He didn't say anything. He allowed me to read his mind."

The orb went completely black for a minute.

"Well, I cannot ask you for the data you received, but I trust your judgement. Give him a few weeks to settle in before his first mission - and don't make it too brutal. We don't want to break him before he's made."

X-X-X

"You seem a bit lost."

Fox looked up from his drink, which was an odd combination he had never drunk before. He shaded his eyes against Ma'saq's bright sun.

A human girl of no more than eighteen was sitting across the table. "Mm. I'm completely new here."

"Well, I have to tell you, you chose a nice place to be new to," she said. "Ma'saq is the best orbital in a thousand light-years! The place is awesome. The only better places anywhere in Culture space are Phage Rock and GSV 'Taken Out Of Context'. And who wants to live on a GSV, anyway? They're so snobbish."

"Ah, I don't think you understand," said Fox. "I came in on the... GCU, I think it was... 'Disproved By Experiment', when it picked up my dying arwing. I had never even heard of the Culture until then."

"Oh my... you're completely new? Dear me! And you had the special attention of a Contact Unit? I've been trying to get into Contact for years! Recommend me if you get a chance, will you?" She was actually pleading.

"I, ah... I don't think I'll get a chance. But hey, if I do, I will."

"Thanks!" She skipped off. Fox went back to his drink.

X-X-X

-about seven months later-

The slightly overweight man stepped out of the car and began walking over to the building. His bodyguards were with him.

Once he had entered, he bade them farewell and headed upstairs. He entered the bedroom and closed the door behind him, reaching for the light switch.

As the room was flooded with illumination, there was the faintest of scraping noises behind him. He was about to turn when he felt a knife against his throat.

"You have been very slippery, Derma Feng. The last mission I had was much easier than this." The low, growling voice was full of menace.

"What? What do you want from me?" Derma Feng seemed quite confident for a man with his life on the line.

"You know why I'm here. Keeping a war going just to sell weapons? That's pretty low, even for scum like you." The knife didn't move.

Derma Feng twiddled his thumb around his ring. At the right press, it would bring ten guards into his bedroom in a mere few seconds.

The assassin was still talking. "Standard procedure says I am to take you back to the Culture, where you won't be able to do any damage. Are you ready to go?"

Derma Feng almost collapsed with relief. "Yes, I'm ready," he said, pressing his ring.

A panel slid open on his wall. Several large corpses fell out. The assassin kept talking as if nothing had happened. "You know, I had a lot of leeway in this mission, since you were so difficult to find."

"What is that supposed to mean?" Asked Derma Feng. He was feeling nervous again.

"It means I won't have to drag you across the galaxy, I'll just have to drag your corpse to the window that overlooks the river," he replied. "You are nothing but a profiteering sack of meat. Your kind make me sick."

He swished his knife sideways, cutting the cranial aorta and jugular vein, piercing through to the larynx. Bright red arterial blood sprayed over the ornate carpet.

As the dying arms merchant lay gurgling on the floor, drowning in his own blood, a humanoid fox walked into his slowly darkening vision.

"My name is Fox McCloud... I thought you might want to know that." He grabbed the dying man's collar, pulling him toward the window.

X-X-X

Fox got into the car. The drone beside him turned to face him.

"You really didn't have to kill him, Fox. You were supposed to stop his cruel activities and bring him with us," said the drone, whose name was Cherul-Vosen.

"His kidnapping would have been more publicized than his murder. This way is quieter," he lied smoothly.

Cherul-Vosen's field turned a faint yellow. "Uh-huh. You didn't kill the last guy, and he was a power-mad dictator. Why didn't you?"

Fox looked pensive. "You know I was a mercenary before I joined SC, right? Well, that was a fine line for me. I was so careful to take only jobs that I was _sure_ were for honourable causes, because if I didn't I'd be nothing more than someone who kills for money.

"But even though I was so careful, I was still called a hired killer. Not by many, but by enough. Because of this... someone who kills for mere profit is the lowest form of murderer in my eyes. It really touches a nerve."

Cherul-Vosen was silent for the rest of the trip.

X-X-X

Tight-beam transmission from GSV 'It Depends On Your Definition Of "Harmless" ' to the GCU 'Not Applicable In Normal Conditions':

~I was informed that a new agent had joined Special Circumstances. Apparently he wasn't even a Culture citizen before this. Is this true?

~Yes. The 'Disproved By Experiment' picked him up in volume 153-JF-*4553 relative to the galactic core. Apparently, he was drifting in a powerless ship. His mind was scanned - with consent, of course - and our brother decided he would make an excellent SC agent.

~This seems a bit hasty... how is his track record?

~Three missions complete. During the second mission, an 'extradition of unsettling elements' mission, he killed his Target for reasons which his companion drone at the time stated as 'personal'. Other than that, flawless.

~Very well. Have his assigned companion drones watch him closely, however. We do not want a mission messed up because our operative can't control his emotions.

-end of data stream-

X-X-X

Kursed had spent a long time searching for Fox, but after three months without a single trace, she had given up. Now, her life as a bounty hunter was all she had. And she was a force to be reckoned with.

She no longer felt a moment of regret for every person she killed. Gone was the Kursed who would have cared. All that was left was a bitter killer, intent on her next victim. Her reputation had changed from 'Kursed? she's very efficient' to 'if you _really_ want that guy dead, call Kursed.'

X-X-X

/storyteller: argh... I stretched it as far as I could... but it's still too short. Damn.

Anyway. It will be a while before I update this again. I still have to update Dark Light and Enemy Of My Enemy.

Ps: to any actual Banks fans reading this; what do you think of my ship names? 


	3. Chapter 3

/storyteller: *grovels* sorry! Inspiration doesn't come when called!

Also, 'Disproved By Experiment' is now 'Disproven By Experiment'. I think it sounds a little better.

I do not own star fox, tho' I wish I did. I do not own the Culture either. If I did, there would be 18 novels instead of nine.

X-X-X

Star Fox: Use Of Weapons

Ch3: fresh blood

X-X-X

-one year later-

Fox woke up, and reached across the bed.

As always, his arm encountered nothing but empty blankets, and a sharp sadness ran through him. He grudgingly got up and got himself coffee. It amused him to remember that it had been him that had introduced The Culture to coffee; scans of his ship's memory had revealed, from god only knew where, a record of a coffee plant's DNA.

As he sat on the balcony, drinking the hot, bitter beverage and looking at the sun-soaked view, his thoughts kept wandering back to Krystal.

"Damn it." Fox sighed violently. "I need a new mission."

The avatar of Ma'saq orbital's hub Mind appeared. "Lonely, Fox? I know for a fact that people have tried to make you feel at home. Ma'saq is not an inhospitable orbital."

"I don't really fit in, Hub. The reason 'Disproven By Experiment' suggested joining Contact was because he knew I wouldn't be happy as a normal citizen of The Culture. This long wait with no word from Contact or Special Circumstances is... boring, at best, and nerve-racking at worst." Fox gulped the last of his coffee.

"Actually, Fox, I came here because of that very fact. Special Circumstances has come up with a new mission for you."

Fox perked up instantly. "Great! Where, when and what objective?" He said eagerly.

"Two weeks from now, in, if you believe it, your own home system," replied the Hub. "Your objective is a standard 'extradition of unsettling elements'. Although we have no data on your actual target, we have found a few informants who might - with the right persuasion - agree to help you on that point. Here is the data chip, read it carefully on the journey."

X-X-X

Fox walked through the ship, lost in thought.

"Fox, your quarters are in the opposite direction," said the GCU 'Distorted Perception', its avatar appearing with a pop. "Just in case you actually intended to go there."

Fox started. "Sorry. I'm just wondering about this mission. I've been a citizen of the Culture for two years, now... returning to Lylat isn't going to be easy. Some people may still remember me... and some may have forgotten me. Both will be disturbing."

"If they have forgotten you, it's an advantage."

"Yes. I know. But it will feel unfamiliar. It may throw me off balance." He sighed. "I just don't want to screw up."

"You'll do fine, Fox," was all 'Distorted Perception' could say.

X-X-X

Fox opened the data chip.

It displayed a map of Lylat - slightly redundant, as Fox knew the system well - with certain areas glowing.

Fox touched the largest of the glowing points.

It opened another screen. A voice started playing:

"A man called Peppy Hare is known to live here. He would be the best person to ask about other informants and low level connections to your enemy's power structure."

Fox gasped. Peppy Hare? Why would he be useful to a Culture mission? He had retired before Fox had vanished. Surely he was a normal veteran now.

"He will be necessary to track down your highest-level informant: her name is Kursed. That is all we have been able to ascertain."

Kursed...

That name seemed... familiar, somehow...

Fox sighed. He wasn't getting anywhere. He closed the panel and went to bed.

X-X-X

Pop!

Fox sat up. Though the sound no longer caused a brief panic, it was unnerving to have someone appear out of thin air in your bedroom. Especially if it took less than a microsecond.

"We are arriving in the Lylat system. Please go to the docking bay; I need you there to Displace you to the surface."

Fox got up and grabbed his pack. Despite its civilian appearance, it contained substantially more than enough weaponry to reduce a Cornerian defense station to dust and ash.

He slung it over his shoulder. "I'm ready," he said.

X-X-X

Corneria's orbital spaceport hadn't changed much in the years of Fox's absence. A new docking arm had been installed, and some of the seedy storefronts had changed names, but it was still the spaceport he remembered.

He had been displaced right into a ship that had just docked, and had exited with the flood of people. He walked up to one of the hundreds of registry desks.

"Nathaniel Azerus Graves, I came in aboard the 'Jewel'," he said, displaying his fake passport. "I'd like a shuttle to the surface as quickly as possible."

The attendant barely spared him a glance; she was obviously overworked. The landing nexus was awash with people of every shape and size.

"Here's your landing pass. Now get going."

Fox walked quickly to the shuttle docks.

X-X-X

Peppy Hare was sitting at his desk, pretending to work, when he heard the faint scratching click of a lock being picked. He pulled his blaster out from under his desk and armed it, turning to face the door.

"You know, you're getting downright predictable in your old age," said a familiar voice behind him.

He spun once more.

The figure was slightly more muscular than he remembered, its hair was slightly longer and it was dressed uncharacteristically in a black leather duster, but his face was unmistakable. It was a face that had appeared in many news articles, often accompanied by the word 'hero'.

"Fox my boy, where the hell have you been for the past three years?"

Fox hesitated. "Let's just say... special circumstances prevented me from contacting you. And I'm not here to stay, even now. However, I do need some information."

Peppy grinned. "As general of the Cornerian defense force, I'm definitely not allowed to tell you, so..." he tapped a few commands on his computer and then held up a memory chip. "I'm afraid you'll have to read it all yourself. Now I suggest you get going. Security changes shift in two minutes."

Fox stepped up to the vent he had used to enter the room. "Thanks for everything, old friend," he said. "I'm truly sorry I can't stay."

X-X-X

Back in his hotel room, Fox was pouring over the data on the chip.

From what he could ascertain from the mountains of data, the entire Cornerian military was mobilizing. Anonymous threats and guerrilla attacks were breaking out all over the outer Lylat system.

Fox went to work immediately. He started gathering correlations between attacks, time, distance, or any other variable he could think of.

After several hours, he had finally assembled enough information to tentatively discern an area within which these terrifying, invisible enemies seemed to be based. He wasted no time readying his arwing.

X-X-X

Fox turned off the arwing's engines.

With some very non-lylatian technology, he was scanning ion trails in the asteroid field. Though charged particles were abundant, he could identify a general trend towards several massive asteroids to his starboard, indicating that combustion-based ships made frequent use of the surrounding area.

He cloaked his arwing and activated the thrusters ever so slightly. His ship began to drift towards the cluster.

As he watched carefully, he noticed the faintest of shimmering against the black backdrop of the space to the port side of the asteroid. Such shimmering fields were only caused by one thing - a similarly cloaked ship moving at high speed.

The ship itself was not important. What was, was the fact that it had apparently materialized on the surface of the asteroid and flown off. He scanned again-

There! The rock face in a small enclave wasn't rock at all; it was a holographic field. That must be the entrance to something, rebel base or not. He slowly landed on the asteroid, just outside the gap, and prepared a space suit.

As a ship skimmed past his vantage point, he hurled himself forward, activating the magnetic clips on his suit...

X-X-X

Kursed watched coldly as her ship maneuvered itself into the hidden entrance. She smiled grimly, knowing she would soon receive payment for a job well done.

In her state of cruel elation, she never noticed the faintest of clinking noises from the rear of the ship.

X-X-X

-End of chapter-

Storyteller: okay, I know it has been an absolutely abominable length of time. Try going through fifth year in school - it's a barrel of laughs. I've also got a severe addiction to contend with. Don't hate me for slowing down. I am still writing all my stories (except possibly "a program...") and I will update eventually.

Finishing stories is hard...*sadface*. 


End file.
